Four Perthshire rugby fans will put their creative talents to good use when they upholster a chair using rugby shirts for charity.
Jayne Lamont, Pam Guthrie-Dawber, Rona Forbes and Kirsty Mundell of Blairgowrie are raising funds for MND charity My Name’5 Doddie, founded by former Scotland rugby international Doddie Weir who revealed he had the disease in 2017.
They were inspired by friend of a friend Emma Moss, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in May 2018 and given a 50/50 chance of surviving the following two years.
The pals have already received many donations of rugby shirts ahead of auctioning the finished chair online in November.
And they hope the completed chair will feature the colours of every club that fans’ favourite Doddie played for during his rugby career.
Emma Moss
Emma Moss, from Northampton, was diagnosed with MND at 37 years old.
Jayne says Emma has motivated the group to raise funds and further awareness of MND.
She said: “Having followed Emma’s story on Facebook, she was the inspiration behind this project.
“She writes a blog and runs a support group and is determined to live to see her daughter’s first day at school.”
‘Doddie is a hero’
The fundraisers will all pitch in to upholster the chair, incorporating aspects of Doddie Weir’s career in raising funds for his charity.
“Each of us has a different talent that they bring to the group,” Jayne said.
“We are going to strip back and reupholster an old wingback chair with shirts from as many clubs as we can.
“We hope to incorporate all the teams Doddie has played for over the years.
“Doddie is a hero to anyone in our generation that grew up playing or following rugby.
“He was an inspiration to so many on the pitch and continues to be even more of an inspiration in his fight against MND.”
‘We have to keep believing’
In addition to the auction, the team will use leftover fabric to raise even more money for My Name’5 Doddie.
Jayne added: “We realised that after reupholstering the chair we were going to have lots of fabric left from the shirts.
“We decided to use this up by making stuffed Giraffes and rugby balls which we will sell to raise more money for the foundation.
“We have to keep believing that a cure for MND is just around the corner – every pound we make brings that cure a little bit closer.”